Tara C Taylor

I hope you are all doing well!

Germany (particularly Berlin) has been in a hard lockdown since the second week of December 2020. Berlin restaurants have been closed since the end of November. The number of COVID-19 infections is on the rise without an end in sight.

My dear friend Matthew Presidente asked me to be a guest on his live online show “More Keys with Matty P” which is a new show he is doing on the Unicorn’s Live streaming platform.

Unicorn’s Live is an LGBTQ+ Pride network located in Kelowna, BC, Canada. They traditionally organized LGBTQ+ live events in Kelowna “but, the pandemic made the organization accelerate their pivot to becoming an online streaming service. Since Matthew had performed at previous Pride events they had organised they offered him a bi-weekly Monday night slot on their platform for a show. So, Matthew created “More Keys with Matty P!” a cabaret show with a special guest. Matthew asked me to be his guest for Monday, March 29th and I accepted. FYI….a monday evening in Vancouver is a Tuesday morning in Berlin.

Due to the lag/delay with streaming we would not be able to perform live together so, we pre-recorded a few video songs. We recorded and shot video for two of Matthew’s songs and two of mine. We had them recorded and shot a week before the show date so the producer Dustyn from Unicorn’s Live could smoothly transition from live streaming to the pre-recorded music.

“More Keys…” aired on Monday, March 29th 8:00 p.m. (Pacific) which is Tuesday, March 30th at 5:00 a.m. Berlin time. Tech check would happen an hour before at 4:00 a.m. (Berlin) so, my mission was to periodically nap throughout Monday to look fresh & ready for the show. Anybody who knows me knows I am NOT a morning person!

At 4:00 a.m. Don and I were awake, dressed, cameras set, apartment rearranged, my hair and make-up was good to go and I had a gin martini ready to go. We logged on, Dustyn sent us the link for the streaming platform, Matty logged on and we were linked in 3 global locations. The tech check went off without any issues and at 5:00 a.m. it was Showtime!

The show was so much fun to do! Matty and I were “live” together for the first time in AGES! We were also able to communicate with the viewers and take requests on the Unicorns live chat. Matthew played a few requests and there was a request for me to play Madonna’s “Live a Virgin” live and I had to sing it as quietly as possible so I would not wake up my neighbours.

The show ended at 10:00 p.m. (Pacific)/ 7:00 a.m. (Berlin). I had a great experience doing the show with Matthew and working with Unicorns Live. Would I do this again?